Cold Body, Warm Heart
by HCBalwayshappy
Summary: Okay this picks up when they are left in the freezer. I know, sorry. "Only four more words, Four!" She was slowly slipping into the cold. each word took so much effort, so much power, but she had to tell him. Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
1. Freezing, Cold, Gone

Cold Body, Warm Heart

A Castle Story By

HCBalwayshappy

He did information on this once for his book. He was going to write a story about someone being stuck in a freezing cold car, when he was in college for an assignment. Looking it up he read all about it, read stories from people who had survived. How they slowly went to numbness and barely held on. How they were scared that they wouldn't say goodbye. A lot of them were alone. Some weren't. He also knew who would go first, the girl, and he knew who he had to watch die.

Bang! They tried the door again, nothing worked. She, the girl he loved, the girl he cared so much about, the reason he was here slid down the wall and put her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry Castle," She said, looking up at him, her shadow, her sidekick, her friend. He knelt down next to her and put a hand on her forehead, she was cold. That meant to her, he was warm.

"Kate-"

"No, It's my fault, I'm the reason your here. I should have saw that coming, I let him get away! He's got a bomb, castle."

"No one could have seen this coming Kate, no one! It's not your fault, Ryan and Esposito will find us. Then we'll stop the bomb together. We're going to be okay," Castle tried to reason with her. He could see the frost forming on her hair, freezing it,and her eyelashes.

"You shouldn't be here, you have a family, people who need you, want you," Beckett shivered.

"Don't say that Kate, Javier and Kevin, your their sister. Montgomery, your his daughter. Lanie...They care about you, they'd be devastated if you died. I care about you." They had slowly moved to the center of the room now, that way if anyone did open it, they'd see them. He had Kate wrapped up in his arms.

"I shouldn't let this happen, if he gets away, the bomb goes off, people will die. It'll be my fault." She wasn't as cold anymore, she couldn't feel much. Castle noticed that she stopped shivering.

"It won't be your fault."

"Cas-" Kate tried to tell him, it was getting harder to think, to stay focused. To stay awake.

"It WON"T be your fault, we'll find the guy we'll catch him."

"Ric-"

"Just stop Beckett."

"I can't feel anything, I can't hold on any longer," She whispered, her whole body fought to stay awake. She had to tell him something before she died. She had to let him know, how she felt, and that she was so thankful for him. "I need to tell you something," each word she spoke, took so much effort, so much power. She hated feeling like she was helpless, like there was nothing she could do. _only four more words, Four, Come on Kate. You can do this._ She told herself.

"Castle I-" The hand that gripped his jacket fell onto his lap. Castle's heart pounded, tears threatened his eyes. He couldn't lose her, he couldn't. He wanted to grow old with her. To always have her with him, to save her. She was unconscious her small body limp in his arms. She didn't look like the super cop, now. She looked like Katherine Beckett, the fragile person that resided on the inside of the armor, that she always wore.

"No! no, Kate stay with me. Please Stay with me. I can't lose you. Your my best friend. Stay with me!" He cried, rocking her back and forth. "Please, please!"

Ryan and Esposito jumped out of their car and into the building. They got worried when Beckett wouldn't answer her phone and that Castle didn't either, so they tracked it. Castle's phone was on, they had put the tracker on it when he wasn't looking. Beckett's was disabled, they were unable to reach it. That was never good. They found castle's phone on the ground by a big door.

"Shoot! What do you think happened to them?" Ryan asked his partner, Esposito.

"I don't know Bro, but we have to find them."

"Help! Is anyone out there!" A weak voice called from behind the giant door, "Anyone, Please I need an ambulance. There's a cop down!"

"Castle?" Both detectives said at the same time, walking towards the door.

"Esposito, Ryan! In here." Castle could hardly stand the cold anymore.

"Ready Bro, on three," Javier said, since he couldn't open the door, because it was jammed..

"One, Two...Three!" They ran into the door hurling themselves inside and onto the freezing ground. Esposito looked up, his heart sinking when he saw Kate. The closest thing he had to a sister. Frost completely covered her, her face was deathly pale, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing. Her lips were blue, nearly purple. Castle looked about half as bad, frost gathered on the tips of his hair, but he was awake. His eyes dazed, and unfocused.

Looking over at Ryan who was thinking the same thing, they picked themselves up and walked over to them.

"Get-Get Beckett out of here, hurry. She's been unconscious for awhile." Castle said. Esposito leaned over and picked the extremely light Katherine Beckett off of the ground. From now on Esposito would make sure she ate, and got enough sleep. It wasn't healthy for her to be this light.

"She's so cold," Esposito said as he stepped out of the freezer. Kevin helped Castle up and they stumbled outside after him.

"Kevin, Call 911. Get an ambulance here asap." Kevin nodded and pulled out his phone after giving his jacket to Castle. Taking off his also Javier wrapped it around Kate, holding her closely and Trying to warm her up. Feeling for a pulse, he gave a sigh of relief when she had one. It was small and slow, but it was hope.

"Dang it!" He heard Ryan call out as he slammed his phone shut.

"What?"

"They won't be here for twenty minutes."

"WHAT!" Javier yelled. She might not make it that long. Castle had heard it, but he was shivering against the wall and was too tired to think.

Ryan sat down right between Javier and Castle. Beckett looked so small, so fragile. It broke him, broke them, to see her this way. He put his hand to her forehead, it was still freezing. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, he was keeping back tears, and he could tell Esposito was also.

They finally heard sirens in the distance. Montgomery, their boss, was the first to arrive. He looked at Kate in Esposito's arm, his face fell. Paramedics came rushing out, taking Castle, to one ambulance, then getting Beckett to the other. Javier, Kevin, and Rick, stood telling the paramedics and the captain the story.

"Okay Castle, I want you to go home. Your family is waiting for you," Montgomery said.

"They are at a retreat, I want to go with Kate."

"There is nothing you can do now Castle, Well called them they are at your house waiting. Get warmed up, we'll meet you at the hospital. Kate should be fine." Truth was, not even he was sure. He hadn't been able to get anything out of the paramedics. He hoped.

"BU-"

"NO CASTLE, you are going, Thompson, is going to take you home," Roy yelled. Giving up, Castle left, reluctantly.

A paramedic came up to them, his head was down, he didn't look them in the eye. "I'm sorry, but I have to let you know. Ms. Beckett, her temperature is well below what it needs to be. I'm surprised she didn't die already. There is a slim chance we'll be able to bring her back to normal. Everything has slowed down, keeping her body from functioning normally."

"No, not, not Kate," Esposito suddenly cried out, "Not her." Ryan started to cry too, she couldn't die. Montgomery held his ground, he wasn't supposed to get attached to his workers, but these three, have crawled into his heart they were his children, so he held it in.

"We're riding with her," Ryan said, he nodded. The two partners, the two brothers, hopped in the ambulance and they sped towards the hospital. Holding their loved one's cold hands tightly.

* * *

Okay! First Castle Fanfiction and it was so much fun to write! I love the show and I can't wait to watch Monday's episode! I know that a lot of you have written your own versions of this, and they are all amazing they inspired me to write my own! Sorry about the grammar errors, I was never good with commas! I know you probably don't need another Castle story writer, but I just really wanted to write this and figured why not post it! Thanks!

-HCB


	2. Family, Partners, Best Friends

Cold Body, Warm Heart

A Castle Story By

HCBalwayshappy

Esposito wished it was one of those 'time flies' moments, but it wasn't. The minutes dragged on and each ticking of the clock pounded in his head. He paced back and forth along with Ryan as they waited for the doctor to come out to give them the good, or the bad news. They hoped it was good.

Katherine Beckett was in critical condition, they said they've never heard of anyone being stuck in a freezer of that temperature for that long, and still live. It causes them to wonder why Castle wasn't in the same boat. They cared for him, yes, but when it came to him or Kate. Kate was their first choice, though she'd tell them to save him, if they had a choice, to save him. They'd try to save both, but they wouldn't willingly let her go and they weren't going to let her go now.

"Javier Esposito, Kevin Ryan?" A doctor stepped into the waiting room and asked. Both of them stuck their hands up and ran over to him.

"Here!" They yelled and in unison said, "Is she okay? Where is she? Can we see her?" They were nearly jumping up and down trying to get a good look at the clipboard he was holding.

"Calm down, I'm not telling you anything until you calm down!" The two detectives immediately fell silent. Thinking about strangling the information out of him, if he didn't tell them soon.

"First I must know your relationship with Katherine Beckett before I give you a bunch of info. She listed you under family along with her father."

"She's our sister," They both said. They could tell that Dr. Need- to- know- it -all didn't believe them, but then sighed, shook his head and looked down at his clipboard. "Okay, well she pretty much is, and if you don't tell us I swear we'll hurt you." He smiled, but then looked into the detectives eyes, gulped, then read off the information.

"I'm sorry, but Ms. Beckett is still below the okay temperature. We're slowly warming her body up, but we really need her to wake up, the longer it takes her the less likely she'll live."

"Can't you just stick her in a heater?" Kevin asked.

"No, you see this is like washing your hands with warm water after a snowball fight. It burns. We don't want to damage anything, so she'll have to slowly heat up. Unfortunately that's not always the best, it can't take too long, or not enough blood will get to her."

"So she doesn't have much of a chance," Javier said.

"No, but you can see her now." Both of them nodded.

"One question?" Ryan said. The Dr. looked at him patiently waiting for him to ask.

"How come the guy that was with her was still awake and conscious by the time we got here? How come he's not here?"

"Well he probably was smar-" he stopped, "more conservative of his energy. Also woman are more likely to give into the cold before men, considering their body temperatures are lower than ours. You probably notice that most girls hands are cold when you touch them. That's the reason." Still confused they nodded and followed him to Kate's room.

The minute they entered the room, seeing her pale face, her small body, her shield in ruins, they felt sick. Sick to their hearts. Walking over they sat on the chairs to both sides of her. Taking her hands in theirs. Still cold. A few minutes later Esposito looked up.

"Why bro? Why now? Why like this?" He asked.

Ryan shrugged, "I don't know man, but I swear I'm going to kill the guy who locked them up in there."

"Agreed."

Kevin watched as Esposito stood up and left to get them some coffee. It was then that he turned to Kate, he loved her...like a sister, and he would do anything to protect her, they both would.

"Kate, I don't know if you can hear me. I just wanted to tell you...thanks. Thanks for being there each time I needed you, thanks for watching my back. When I first met you, I didn't know what to think. I had only one question, the one you hated. The 'why does someone like you, have a job like this.' I still don't get it sometimes, but I realize now, it's because your good at it. Your the best I know. You're my sister Beckett and I love you, I'm sorry I couldn't watch your back. I'm sorry I failed. I need you to fight for me, okay?"

He felt better getting it all out, but he wished she could have heard it. Wished she would've known. Esposito came back, took one look at Ryan's tear filled face and told him that maybe, taking a step outside would help and that it helped him. Taking his coffee he nodded and left the room. Knowing that Esposito wanted to have Kate to himself for a little bit.

"Kate, I know your probably sick of hearing this mushy gushy stuff, especially after hearing from Kevin, but I need you to know some things too. First of all, next time some creep tries to hurt you, I'll personally put a bullet through his head. Next thanks for being there for me. For supporting me. You're my best friend, my sister. I always could count on you. You always knew exactly how to handle thing, and you got me through the worst part of my life. I'm sorry I never could help you with yours. So you better not leave okay, I need to know you heard this, I need you to be here. We all do."

The tough Javier had broken down, the tough homicide team of the twelfth precinct had broken down. No one ever saw them cry, no one understood that they cared so much about each other. Ryan came back and they sat, sat until they heard the one sound, they never wanted to hear. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! The never ending sound, that made everyone in the whole building heart drop. Wondering exactly who was going to die. Turned out it was going to be the best detective in New York city.

Stepping back the two partners watched as they tried to bring her back to life. To get her breathing again.

"No!" Ryan yelled, he felt as if he was suffocating, the room getting smaller with each jolt. _you can't leave! You can't! _

"Breath, Dang it, breathe!" Esposito yelled, _please. _he thought calmly, _breathe._ Beckett was the nicest, yet meanest person they knew. She cared for people, it's part of what made her a good cop, she had a warm heart. Though such a cold body.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"We got her, she's okay." the nurse smiled wiping her forehead. _For now. _Everyone couldn't help, but think.

Forty minutes later, they still sat on those chairs, half asleep. Castle hadn't come yet, because even though with much protest from his side. Montgomery had forbid it, at least until he was completely back to normal temperature. A slight movement from her fragile body, caused both of them to jerk from there slumber.

"Javi, Kev?"

"KATE! Oh my gosh! KATE!" They yelled jumping up off their chairs, Kevin pressing the nurse button frantically.

"What- what's wrong, what happened? the BOMB!" She tried to sit up, but Javier pressed her back down.

"It's alright, they are working to find it, but now it's just a good thing you're awake," he said. The Dr. came in and smiled, to him she live, to them, it was a true miracle.

"When can I get out of here?" she asked the Dr. Jones, after he was done checking up on her.

"I'd like you to stay over night, you are still below temperature, but high enough your body should function pretty well. Though some one will need to sign you out. And monitor you for a couple days," Kate looked over at her partners and smiled, they both started to shake their heads.

"You have to get me out of here, or I might just go crazy. I can help. Come on they need the best Homicide team to help with his case." The look in her eyes told them that either way she was going to get out, whether with consent or not. Reluctantly they nodded their heads and signed the papers.

On the way to her apartment to get her some clothes, Beckett sat in the back seat. Almost asleep. Ryan and Esposito smiled as they pulled up to her home. They both exited the car opening up her side. Esposito gently shook her shoulder. She smiled when she saw them and all three went inside. Soon they were back in the car and on there way to the precinct. Just about to step off the elevator when she turned.

"Thank you, thank you both, for everything. For being there for me, I wouldn't of been able to handle much if you guy's weren't there. You two are the best! You guys are my family. Thanks." With that the elevator door dinged, and she stepped out of the elevator. Katherine Beckett underneath her shield, Detective Beckett ready to do her job and not fail. Both of them stared after her, when she turned around again smiling.

"Let's stop that bomb." grinning they ran to catch up with her as they entered the room. Castle was sitting in her chair, having heard she had been released and smiled when she walked in. Lanie stood tapping her foot in the middle of the room and Montgomery stepped out of his office. The family was there, they were safe, they are all together.

Finally the cold was gone.

* * *

Hi! Thanks for the reviews I got! They really mean a lot. Now I guess onto defusing the bomb, I'll leave that up to tomorrows episode! Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Sorry for any errors that are in there. I really enjoyed writing this and I hope it was fun for you to read. Also sorry there wasn't much Castle in there. I really just think that we need to show more of Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito friendship. But I totally love Castle/Beckett. Anyway thanks!

-HCB


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